dog walking, shoe shopping and austrian barnyard fowl

a local dog walker taking her charges out for a walk.

i met chanda at prodigy coffee after her classes and after my doctor's appointment (a wellness check up - i've chosen a new primary care physician through our new health insurance plan through greg's work). we had made plans to visit the REI store - she wanted to see what was on sale and i was looking for hiking shoes.

she found a good rain jacket on sale to wear when riding her bike. i was able to try on several shoes to see which fit me best, but they didn't have my size in the ones i thought were good. i think i'll check the zappos website tonight.

afterwards, chanda headed out to brooklyn and i walked home past some city gardens . . 

tomatoes in a raised bed . . 

beautiful yellow flowers . . 

 

i've walked past this restaurant many times and today i thought it would be fun to have dinner there, especially since i knew greg was on his way home also, and not far away.
 

it specializes in pizza . .

keeping track of a rainstorm in pennsylvania that is heading east.

we first shared a caesar salad . .

we chose a marinara pie with fresh basil and ricotta and parmesan. the menu described the pizza style as being from detroit and it was really good. i love ricotta cheese.

heading home again with leftover pizza for tomorrow!

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pics from austria and a new bike

morgan is currently visiting in austria for a few days . . 

 

two delicious looking austrian meatballs . .

and a few very cute baby ducks . . 

(sigh) it's just so beautiful . . 

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meanwhile, chanda purchased a very nice used bike for herself as her bike was stolen a few weeks ago. we had new tires put on this afternoon as the ones it came with had no tread left.  she's very happy with it and was excited to ride it to her new classes at school today.

together we visited the cats she is taking care of while their family is away.

franklin is very friendly and always hungry.

 

on the other hand, orange tabby mert will not come down to the kitchen to eat. one time when i fed them i took his food upstairs so he would eat before i left.

 

of course mert doesn't eat as quickly as franklin and so franklin would eat his food when he walked away from his bowl, and thus if was difficult making sure he had enough. recently the family purchased the surefeed bowl which only allows mert to access his own food (via the chip between his shoulder blades which was placed there by the organization that rescued him). very clever!

both cats are so sweet and it's fun visiting them.

late summer in connecticut

friday morning greg and i drove up to connecticut.

 

we stopped at mazzicato's in middletown for sweet treats . . 

cookies and a broccoli/potato/sausage bread.

jam, sesame, almond, rainbow and powdered sugar wedding cookies.

i hadn't seen toby in awhile. it took her a moment to remember me. she's become a bit hard of hearing and sleeps very sound these days.

 

chives

basil and lettuce (red and green leaf)

begonia flowers

tomatoes . . 

kathy made so many delicious meals - lunch was chicken salad (with raisins, walnuts and curry), tabouli and watermelon.

 

and then the delicious cookies we brought - rainbow, sesame and butter with almond.

late afternoon rainstorm

we picked the basil and made pesto together with walnuts and romano cheese. it was especially good with such fresh basil.

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saturday morning spider web.

one of toby's favorite spots underneath the deck.

making breakfast . . 

morning writing . . 

slides from yesterday's photo show. we brought out my dad's old projector and tried showing a few slide canisters. the lamp grew a little too hot so we needed to take a break. i pulled these slides out to bring home and see about sending away for paper photos.

french toast with fresh strawberries and peaches. so good!

early afternoon bike ride along the rail trail.

 

passing through the marsh . . 

meeting a little furry friend along the way named abigail.

stopping for lunch . . 

which we soon had to abandon as the honeybees came out and kathy is highly allergic to their sting.

warren and i switched bikes for a little bit . .

there are turtles lying on the branch that is sticking into the water, and also a few cherry pits flowing by from the cherries we were eating . .

all the beautiful goldenrod . . 

 

late afternoon by the lake . . for a swim and rides on the paddle board and kayak . . 

watching his alma mater's football game . .

 

(thankfully, they won).

making guacamole . .

listening to a half time comedy skit . .

and listening to "dad" jokes on the radio . .

grilled salmon for dinner with two different marinades (citrus and spicy curry).

and more cookies for dessert (with vanilla bean ice cream).

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sunday morning . . 

egg, ham and cheese on a croissant with peaches and strawberries!

on the way to the lake for a town celebration . . 

the fire trucks are demonstrating how they draw water from the lake (and today they're returning it at the same time by a fun fire hose sprinkler).

kathy and i first participated in the tea cup raffle by sharing a bunch of tickets and putting them in the cups we were hoping to win (items from the bakery and a dinner at the local restaurant, plants that were offered from the local nursery and the grand prize: a paddle board).

we then went to hear the band whose musicians were friends of kathy and warren, and who happen to play a lot of kathy's favorite tunes from the 50's and 60's (the band has been together since high school, playing off and on over the years; more so now that several are retired from their professional jobs).

dancing to all the songs . . 

i also had fun photographing all the bubble making activity that was happening.

time to head back to the house for a late lunch . .

it was a beautiful day in the low 80's and the evenings have been so comfortable in the mid 60's. i know it's been a little hotter in the city.

first we lost track of each other in the supermarket where we picked up two fisherman's platter lunch specials . . 

 

after the meal, kathy and warren returned to the lake for the grand prize drawing of the inflatable paddle board (for which you had to be present in order to win) while greg and i packed our things up. we received two phone calls on the home landline while they were gone informing us that we had won the bakery's cookie certificate and the restaurant certificate . . i kept trying to call their cell phones to let them know so that they could pick up the certificates there, but kathy had left her phone home and warren's wasn't ringing for some reason . . so when they arrived back at the house they were unaware of our winnings . .

kathy was very happy about the restaurant win . .  (we didn't get the paddle board!)

on the road home . .

walking the bike back to the apartment after taking the bags up and parking the car . . 

it was nice to be back even though the city was definitely hotter and more humid than connecticut.